US court blocks Trump administration’s immigrant visa ban on Pakistan, 74 other countries

A US federal judge has overturned a Trump administration policy that halted immigrant visa issuance for applicants in 75 countries, Pakistan and Bangladesh among them, according to Profit by Pakistan Today. Judge Jeannette Vargas of Manhattan delivered the ruling on Friday, finding the State Department had gone beyond its powers under the law. She described the policy as plainly unlawful.

The State Department announced the suspension in January 2026, justifying it by warning that applicants from the affected nations could become a public charge. The affected list spanned Latin America, including Brazil, Colombia and Uruguay, Balkan states such as Bosnia and Albania, and several nations in Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean. Judge Vargas ruled the measure was a blanket restriction based on nationality, which the secretary of state lacked statutory authority to impose.

Federal immigration law, she said, specifically restricts the secretary of state's authority over consular officers handling immigrant visas, and the nationality-based suspension clashed with that framework. The challenge was filed by immigrant rights groups, the Catholic Legal Immigration Network and African Communities Together, along with visa applicants and US citizens sponsoring relatives from the affected countries.